Aberdeen's win at Hibernian sees them move into second spot in the SPL

Aberdeen moved into second place in the Scottish Premier League thanks to a 1-0 away victory over Hibernian.

Last Updated: 24/11/12 7:53pm

Niall McGinn: Strike secured the points

Aberdeen moved into second place in the Scottish Premier League thanks to a 1-0 away victory over Hibernian.

Niall McGinn struck 14 minutes from time to give the visitors the spoils as they moved level on points with Hibs, with both clubs just a solitary point behind leaders Celtic.

The victory was indebted to the experienced players, such as Russell Anderson and McGinn, who put in outstanding performances.

Sticking with the recent 3-4-3 system the away side had the first real chance with Cammy Smith dispossessing Paul Hanlon and racing through.

Leigh Griffiths displayed his usual energy and determination but Aberdeen's back three were clearly under instructions to limit the striker's space in the final third.

The attention toward Hibernian's attacking focal point did grant Eoin Doyle extra room in which to manoeuvre and the Irishman almost opened the scoring on 31 minutes. Latching onto a through ball in the centre Doyle struck a sweet early shot across Jamie Langfield but the keeper pulled off an excellent save to finger-tip the effort round the post.

With his confidence soaring it was always going to be a difficult task completely shutting down Griffiths. The striker continued to drop deep in order to create chances.

At half-time Brown withdrew Smith and replaced him with Rory Fallon. The substitution initiated a switch of system with the 3-4-3 dropped for a very attack orientated 4-4-2.

The away side were struggling to get a foothold in the game with both Vernon and Fallon failing to establish possession in Hibs' territory. However, with such attacking arsenal they were always going to be capable of producing something out of nothing, with Hibs receiving such a warning on 61 minutes.

Andrew Considine, having shifted to left-back for the second half, sent in a deep cross which the defence missed and travelled all the way to the incoming Fallon at the back post. The striker seemed set to score but did not time his jump properly and saw his header from four yards drift over the crossbar.

The match winner arrived 15 minutes later.

Hayes' cross from the left took a little touch off Alan Maybury trying to clear. The deflection was enough to take the ball away from the waiting Fallon but dropped into the path of McGinn.

The attacker took a couple of excellent short touches to move himself into a one-on-one situation with Ben Williams before coolly rolling the ball past the Hibs goalkeeper.